Chapter 383 The Deciding Night [Part 6]
Shade struck. His fist, wreathed in crackling purple air, shot out with blinding speed.
Annette barely managed to bring her arms up in a cross-block, the force of the blow sending her skidding backward.
She grinned, a feral thing that spoke of bloodlust barely contained.
"Finally, a real challenge."
Shade straightened and looked at her with a small grin, "The last person that said that couldn't take another."
"Try me!!"
The two warriors clashed in a fury of blows, each impact sending shockwaves through the air.
Shade's soul essence-enhanced strikes met Annette's raw physical might in a deadly dance of destruction.
Meanwhile, Jeci found herself increasingly hard-pressed with a new opponent.
With Shade occupying Annette, the soldiers seemed to have regained some of their courage.
Even though they were not finding an answer to why their talent abilities were not working, they pressed in from all sides, causing a relentless tide of steel and flesh.
Jeci's spear became a crimson blur, leaving trails of blood in its wake.
She pirouetted and struck, each movement a deadly work of art. But even her inhuman grace which had its limits was being evenly matched by her opponent who had nothing but two curved daggers.
And moreso, that limit had been strongly tempered beforehand by her fight with Northern.
A slash slipped past her guard, opening a shallow cut along her ribs.
She hissed in pain but didn't falter, retaliating with a vicious thrust that left her attacker reeling backwards.
From his hidden vantage point, Ellis watched the battle unfold with growing horror and frustration.
He saw Jeci stumble, nearly overwhelmed by the sheer numbers and a lady in black gown.
He saw Annette, locked in furious combat with Shade, unable to aid her companion.
Again, and over again, he had always been in the position where he needed to be protected. He wanted that to stop.
But he was too scared to even try, not a second time. The first time, it almost cost him his life; he had Northern to save him from it.
To what good does he serve, if he enters the battle only to be saved by the people he desperately wishes he could save?
'I hate it damn!!'
Something inside him snapped. Ellis glared forward, a selfless, dangerous light flickering in his eyes.
With a cry that was equal parts terror and rage, Ellis burst from his hiding place.
He summoned his dagger and surged forward like a steady wind, almost falling but picking himself back up.
"I'm not useless!" he screamed, charging into the fray.
His first wild swing caught a soldier by surprise, opening a ragged gash across the man's chest.
Jeci's eyes widened in shock as she saw Ellis wade into battle. "You fool!" she yelled, but there was no stopping him now.
What Ellis lacked in skill, he made up for in desperate fury.
He hacked and slashed with reckless abandon, driven by a need to prove himself, to be more than just a burden.
Back at the center of the chaos, Annette and Shade continued their deadly duel.
Shade's enhanced strikes were slowly wearing her down, each impact leaving her arms numb and tingling.
Aside from the fact that they guided his strikes with a trail of purple air, each time his strikes connected, there was an explosion of force that seemed to suck out Annette's own soul essence.
And as much as she tried to evade his strikes after deducing that something was eating up her essence, it was next to impossible to do that.
Because her opponent was that much of a headache. Shade was a seasoned warrior, smart to the very end.
Luring in his styles, his feints were effortless and unmasked, his form while Annette at first deduced it to be a predictable one.
Was actually a trap, every inch of the battle was him laying out traps, and Annette whose form was structured by a strong principle of brute strength always crashed into it in hopes to destroy the whole attempt.
But every time, he always got the better of her. And now her strength, vigor and essence were all beginning to diminish.
"Feeling tired, old woman?" Shade taunted, his smirk infuriating.
Annette's response was a lightning-fast feint followed by a devastating uppercut that caught Shade square on the chin.
He stumbled backward, spitting blood.
"Not even close, brat," Annette growled.
But even as she pressed her advantage, Annette couldn't help but worry about Jeci and Ellis.
She had been shocked at first when she was able to bulldoze through the drifters without worrying about their talent abilities.
But it didn't take a genius to figure out this was Jeci's work. But she had left Annette's power, and Annette's opponent so it seems.
Which means, there's a cost to her abilities. She caught glimpses of Jeci, still holding her own but clearly tiring.
And Ellis... her heart clenched as she saw him fighting with more enthusiasm than skill.
Shade, sensing her distraction, launched into a flurry of attacks. Purple air crackled around his fists as he rained blows upon Annette.
She weathered the storm, but each block sent jolts of pain through her battered arms.
In a desperate gambit, Annette dropped her guard, allowing one of Shade's punches to graze her cheek.
The pain was intense, but it gave her the opening she needed.
Her own fist shot out, catching Shade in the solar plexus with bone-crushing force.
The warrior's eyes bulged as the air was driven from his lungs. He staggered back, gasping and grabbing his chest.
Annette did not relent, she immediately pressed her advantage, unleashing a barrage of punches that drove Shade further and further back.
But just as victory seemed within her grasp, a pained cry cut through the air.
She turned, heart in her throat, to see Ellis fall beneath a soldier's blade.
In that moment of distraction, Shade struck.
His fist, wreathed in crackling air, slammed into Annette's temple.
The world exploded into a kaleidoscope of pain and disorientation.
As she stumbled, fighting to stay conscious, Annette saw Jeci abandon her own fight to rush to Ellis' aid.
The spearwoman moved like a demon, cutting down anyone who stood between her and the fallen young man.
'Ah shit...'