[ENDGAME] Stage 4; Allegory

[warden_kun]

The clouds dissipate, and only then do the people below realize that they had never been clouds, by the ashen offal generated by so many bioelectrical creatures in the sky. The atmosphere is a seething, crackling mass of solid Entropi. They bump into one another, passing through and generating wide arcs of lightning, seeming like the whole racial

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[peachblossomfan]

Hiiragi stared across the ruined compound at Andulvar, and her breath caught in her throat. She hadn't believed she would ever see him again. Now, though, she wasn't sure she wanted to see him. He watched her with murder in his eye and a bladed fighting stick in his hands. Whatever had brought them to this juncture, this was to be no practice session.

Eyrien and Wraeththu circled each other amongst the rubble, weapons at the ready as they sought an opening. Hiiragi took the first move, flipping open one of her fans and gesturing towards Andulvar as she called out, "Dek Corv!" For just a moment Andulvar faltered as his strength faded.

That moment was all Hiiragi needed. She lunged, slashing a fan out at Andulvar's side. The fan barely touched as Andulvar swung the stick around to deflect the blow, but barely was enough. As beautiful as the fans were, it was easy to forget their danger as well. They were equipped to deliver a brief paralysis on strike.

"Who are you?" Hiiragi shouted as the thing that wore Andulvar's face struggled to move. She didn't want to have to battle her friend and teacher like this, but this wasn't him. Andulvar would have shielded and not been touched by the strike. The Andulvar imposter broke through the paralysis and that deadly blade flashed out, nicking Hiiragi's side. An eye for an eye, a cut for a cut.

The battle began in earnest, a deadly dance of flashing steel and brilliant color. Neither gave any quarter as they spun through Econtra, and neither asked for any. The imposter had the advantage of reach, and often Hiiragi found herself leaping backwards from his attacks. However, Hiiragi had her own advantages as well, and whenever she had the moment to get in two words, she used a buff spell to enhance her speed or her strength.

Without warning, Hiiragi dropped her fans and grabbed the haft of the fighting stick as the blade passed close enough to graze her ear. Whirling for all she was worth, she jerked the stick from the imposter's hands, and as she spun back to face him, the blade slashed high and the imposter's head went flying.

Hiiragi could only watch for a moment before turning aside and retching.

Once she recovered, Hiiragi gathered fans and fighting stick. The Entropi were still out there somewhere, and they had a lot to answer for. Hiiragi wasn't about to roll over and die without carving her pound of flesh from them first.