World Awakening: The Legendary Player
Chapter 52: Defeat

Chapter 52: Defeat

Serian brought her own sword up, barely blocking the strike. The force of the blow was immense, so much stronger than before. It sent her skidding backward across the alley, her boots scraping hard on the ground. Her arm shook from the impact.

Rura appeared beside her, her form solidifying from a pink mist. "My turn!" she chirped, and swung a fist.

Serian tried to dodge, but she was too slow. The punch connected squarely with her ribs, and a sharp pain shot through her side. She gasped, stumbling away from both of them, trying to create some space.

’They’re so much faster now,’ she thought, her mind racing. ’So this is their real strength.’

"Your little plant tricks were a nice surprise," Leila admitted, walking toward her slowly. "But what else can you do?"

Serian gritted her teeth, ignoring the throbbing in her side. She slammed her hand on the ground, and dozens of thick, thorny vines erupted from the alley floor. They shot towards Leila and Rura, a writhing wall of thorns.

Leila just laughed and cut through them with her katana, each swing a clean, effortless arc. Rura simply turned to mist, and the vines passed right through her.

’It’s not working,’ she thought, a knot of desperation tightening in her stomach. ’They’re too strong.’ She looked at the end of the alley. She couldn’t win this fight, so she had to get out.

She feinted an attack at Leila, then spun and ran for the alley’s entrance. ’I have to get away, I am too outmatched, if only I had my real weapon. I am not in the forest anymore, I am at a big disadvantage.’

"Oh no, you don’t," Rura’s voice said from right in front of her. She had reappeared, blocking the only way out. She had a wide, innocent smile on her face. "We’re not done playing yet."

Leila was behind her now, cutting off any retreat. Serian was trapped between them, and they were closing in.

’This is bad. This is really bad.’ She had to think of something, anything. Her eyes darted around the alley, looking for an escape. The walls were too high to climb quickly, and her opponents were giving her no room to breathe. This was a fight she was going to lose if she stayed.

’I have to get out of here.’

Leila lunged, her katana a dark blur. Serian didn’t try to meet the blade head-on. She slammed her palm onto the ground, and the alley floor began to twist and break. Thick, gnarled roots burst from the concrete, creating a messy, uneven surface of grasping wood.

Leila cursed as her charge was broken, her boot catching on a rising root. "What is this now?" she grumbled, steadying herself.

Rura giggled. The roots didn’t bother her at all, her body turned to a pinkish mist. The mist shot forward, not around Serian, but right through her. A strange, cold feeling passed through Serian’s chest, and it made her gasp. It didn’t hurt, but the sensation was so wrong that it made her whole body flinch.

’She went through me?,’ she thought, her mind trying to process the violation.

That one moment of distraction was all Leila needed. She used the new, twisted ground to her advantage, pushing off a thick root and lunging over another. Her katana came down in a fast, sharp arc. Serian brought her sword up to block, the impact jarring her arm.

"You’re full of tricks, princess," she said, pressing her advantage. "But tricks aren’t enough."

Serian pushed back, desperate to create some space. She remembered a move her sister had taught her, a difficult disarm that involved twisting an opponent’s blade.

’It’s risky, but I have to try something.’ She feinted low, then brought her sword up, trying to catch Leila’s katana and wrench it away.

The memory hit her as she moved. She was in a sunlit training yard, trying the exact same move on her sister. Her sister had laughed, easily sidestepping and tapping her on the shoulder.

"You’re not ready for that one, Seri," she had said, her voice full of warmth. "Your footing is all wrong."

Her footing was wrong now, too. The uneven roots threw her off balance for a split second, and her disarm attempt failed completely. Her sword just scraped uselessly against Leila’s.

Leila’s eyes narrowed. "That was a mistake." She didn’t go for a big, flashy swing. Her movement was small, precise, and brutal. The tip of her katana flicked out, not at Serian’s body, but at her ankle.

A horrible pain shot up her leg. She cried out and collapsed, her leg giving out from under her. She looked down and saw a deep, bloody cut right above her boot. She couldn’t feel her foot anymore.

’My ankle...,’ she realized, a wave of sickness washing over her. She couldn’t stand, couldn’t run. She was truly trapped now.

Rura became solid again, skipping over to her. "Oh, you’re not getting up from that," she said, her voice full of childish glee. She nudged Serian’s dropped sword with her foot, sending it clattering away. "No more playing with sharp things for you."

She was on the ground, propped up on one elbow, her vision starting to blur with tears of pain and desperation. ’My sisters... can you hear me?’ she pleaded in her thoughts, a last, desperate hope. ’Please, anyone...’ There was only silence.

Another memory, this one of her father, his face stern and sad. "The world outside the woods is cruel, Serian. They will not show you mercy."

"Nox..." she whispered his name, though she didn’t know why. He was just a human, a boy she barely knew. But he had fought for her.

Leila walked over, her face a blank mask. She stood over her and raised her katana, the polished steel looking dark in the shadows of the alley. "It’s over, princess."

Serian squeezed her eyes shut, a single tear tracing a path through the dirt on her cheek. ’I’m sorry, my sisters. I failed.’

She felt a strange warmth on her skin and a soft chime sound in her head, like a tiny, distant bell. She waited for the final, killing blow, but it never landed. She heard Leila let out a grunt of frustration.

She opened her eyes. A shimmering, golden shield, no bigger than a dinner plate, had appeared out of nowhere. It hovered right in front of her neck, blocking Leila’s katana. The blade was stopped cold, an inch from her skin.

"What in the world?" Leila muttered, pushing against the shield. It didn’t even tremble.

Then a new voice, bright and sweet and completely out of place, echoed directly in Serian’s mind.

[Oh, hi! So sorry to pop in like this, but you look like you’re having a really bad day!]

She blinked, her exhausted brain struggling to make sense of it. ’Who... who are you?’

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