A flash of red light clouded The Doll’s vision.
Before she could even recover from the shock of seeing such a color for the first time since the incident, it faded from her vision. Looking down below at the duel, she saw that red color surrounding Darius like a thin covering over his body. Then Darius took a step forward, and suddenly he was in front of Lukaz with a punch lined up for his gut.
How had he moved so fast? The Doll hadn’t even heard him cast a spell? Even if he did cast a spell, spells that affected the caster's body directly were rare.
Lukaz reacted quickly, speaking a spell into existence before The Doll could even recover from her thoughts. “Serpent Evade.” Seemingly out of nowhere a translucent snake manifested to Lukaz’s right side, pushing him out of the way of Darius's punch, which landed against the snake's scales, causing it to vanish immediately.
The spell was clearly cast hastily, but still it held up enough effectiveness to get Lukaz out of immediate danger while he drew his sword. To her left The Doll heard Lila speak. “H-How did Darius cast a spell without sp-speaking?” She asked, voicing The Doll’s own thoughts.
Malina answered as if she was hardly focusing on the question, “The creep didn't use a spell. That mana—no, that power surrounding him; it seems to passively increase his strength using that coat of it around him.” The Doll simply listened to the words, which rang off her ears. Her lack of ability to use mana meant that her knowledge on the subject was bare-bones, but what Malina described it almost sounded like how Fuga worked.
But using mana in such a way should be impossible outside the use of a pinnacle. This would be grounds for a fourth new pinnacle of magic. But Malina's exact wording confused The Doll; she referred to it as a power rather than mana.
While The Doll ruminated on this, she saw Darius waste no time keeping up the pressure on Lukaz, not even bothering to pull out his sword. It was a constant cycle of Darius rushing into punches with impossible speeds while Lukaz barely managed to avoid being forced to use that same simple evasion ad nauseam.
It seemed the two would endlessly continue this dance until one of the two passed out and it was clear that Lukaz was on the back foot. However, on Darius’s sixth mad dash towards Lukaz, something changed. Rather than moving to cast a spell, Lukaz preemptively put his sword out and moved slightly to the side.
A clean stabbing sound echoed through the audience as Lukaz’s sword pierced through Darius’s shoulder.
The sword was coated in blood, and the crowd cheered at the sight. The Doll heard from her sides the vague sound of Lila's disgust and Malina's disdain for the sight. But these sounds were quickly drowned out by the ever-increasing cheer of the crowd as the blood dripped from Lukaz's sword.
The Doll heard a grunt of pain from Darius when Lukaz removed the sword from his shoulder and swiped it in the air to clean the blood off of it. The dark liquid melded into the sand beneath the two's feet as Lukaz held his sword up to Darius, who was now holding the wound closed.
A confident smile replaced the previous on-edge expression Lukaz held. “You attack like a wild animal, lowborn. I merely needed to hold my sword up and have you walk into it.” Lukaz said, his voice brimming with pure confidence.
The Doll couldn't help but be worried as Lukaz gloated.
Should he not just end this?
Darius let out a guttural scream in response, letting go of his shoulder and going for that same dash he had tried so many times already. Lukaz was ready once again, this time responding with a spell, “Ten serpents of average size.” It didn't seem like Lukaz would get to finish his spell as Darius's fist closed in at rapid speeds, but rather than stopping the cast, Lukaz dodged to the side and continued without missing a beat, “Bite his arm with paralysis venom.” Just as Lukaz specified, ten snakes this time fully solidified, manifesting exactly where Darius's arm was, effortlessly biting into his skin.
Darius grabbed all ten snakes by the tail and threw them with such force that they hit the wall of the dueling grounds, dissipating on contact. It looked as if Darius was about to charge again, but before he could, he fell to one knee. The Doll figured that this must be the paralysis kicking in.
Now The Doll figured Lukaz would finish this; he wouldn't risk making her fight Darius simply to gloat. However, to The Doll’s dismay, rather than breaking Darius’s rune, Lukaz held his hands up to the crowd, causing a cheer to erupt.
To her side The Doll heard Malina mutter, “What a moron.” For once The Doll completely understood something Malina said and found herself agreeing. No The Doll shouldn't think that about her fiancee; she was sure he had a plan or a purpose for this.
After the cheering of the crowd died down, Lukaz turned and pointed his sword at Darius, who seemed completely unable to move. Then he looked to the crowd and announced, “THIS LOWBORN DARED TO CHALLENGE LADY ASHENCROFT, A MAJOR NOBLE.” Lukaz shouted despite the fact his voice was already being projected.
The crowd cheered, clearly loving the show Lukaz was putting on. This only seemed to embolden Lukaz, who walked over to Darius and kicked him across the face, causing him to land on the sand. “MY FIANCEE.” Lukaz walked over and put his foot on Darius’s head, driving it into the sand. “HE CHALLENGED MY FIANCEE AND LOST TO ME.” The Doll still wasn't sure what Lukaz was playing at. This was unlike him. He always looked down on lowborns, but he wouldn't risk The Doll's safety, like this, knowing she couldn't use magic. If The Doll got hurt, he would never be able to marry her.
The Doll heard Malina grit her teeth in frustration and Lila whimpering in fear on either side. Lukaz continued to dig Darius's head into the dirt as he spoke, “LET THIS BE A REMINDER TO ALL LOWBORNS TO STAY IN THEIR PLACE.” The crowd's cheers began to die down as Lukaz now was seemingly addressing them as well. Lukaz, however, was unperturbed as he continued to speak, ”TO NEVER APPROACH MY FIANCEE AGAIN.” Lukaz brought his foot down and stomped on Darius’s head.
Seemingly done with his speech, Lukaz crouched down and grabbed the still paralyzed Darius by his hair, bringing his ear to Lukaz's mouth. Leaning in close, Lukaz said in a low voice that was still projected throughout the dueling grounds, “Just because your whore of a mother slept with Lord Ashencroft doesn't give you the right to ruin what I have.” Lukaz dropped Darius and stood up, pointing his sword directly at his rune.
I believe this guy is a fool.
The fight seemed completely over, but why did The Doll feel that same worry she felt before the duel started?
As Lukaz brought his sword down, another flash of red filled The Doll's vision, covering the entirety of the dueling grounds. When the red flash subsided The Doll saw Lukaz covering his own eyes, and Darius, now standing up with that red aura around him, increased greatly in size.
Malina, seemingly on instinct, brought her arm forward to cover both The Doll and Lila, seemingly to protect them. Finally deigning to look her in the eyes The Doll saw Malina's eyes narrowed as she stared at the duel below, giving it her full attention. Turning to examine Lila, she saw her practically standing against the wall as she pushed into it, her eyes laced with clear fear. It seemed evident the people who could sense mana were able to feel something that The Doll was unable to.
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Looking back towards the duel The Doll saw Lukaz uncover his eyes, the confidence once in his expression now completely gone. Darius stared at Lukaz silently before speaking, “May my wrath take form and grant the talons that represent it.” He was casting a spell that Lukaz made no moves to interrupt in a seemingly trance-like state.
When the incantation finished, Darius brought his hand up, and over the pale white fingers were now pure red, beast-like claws. Once these claws manifested The Doll blinked in surprise, and by the time she opened her eyes, Darius was in front of Lukaz, bringing the claws downward into his shoulders.
The action was far too fast for Lukaz to react to in his current state as both claws thrust into his shoulder, causing him to let out a scream of pain.
Seemingly knocked out of his trance-like state by the pain, Lukaz in a panic screamed, “GIANT SNAKE PUSH.” In between the two of them, a massive snake appeared, coiled up, then stretched out, pushing the two away from each other. This action, however, led to Darius's talons dragging Lukaz's shoulder as blood gushed out of the wounds.
The crowd didn't react with cheers like they had previously; instead, they silently stared at this sight. An air of curiosity and fear filled the dueling grounds.
Lukaz, now focusing on the fight once again, quickly said, “Pain numbing snake on my shoulders.” As he spoke, Darius moved once again faster than The Doll could see, but two snakes manifested on Lukaz's shoulders at the same time, biting into them. The Doll heard a loud clatter fill the dueling ground as a piece of metal flew into the sky, landing into the sand below.
Looking at what happened The Doll saw Lukaz barely holding Darius's claws back with his ornate sword, which had shattered upon impact. The whole action happened far too fast for The Doll to comprehend. Lukaz must have moved on pure instinct to even bring his sword up in time to defend against the attack.
With great effort, Lukaz shouted, "Serpent, propel me upward.” A snake shot out of the ground, pushing Lukaz up with his head and causing all the force Darius had put into the attack to bite him as he fell forward, causing sand to shoot up in the sky.
When the sand fell to the ground The Doll saw Darius pulling his hand out of the sand, but Lukaz, not wasting this opportunity, began casting, “A hail from the sky over you.” After speaking, snakes started falling from the sky down onto Darius, their mouths open, ready to bite.
Darius turned his attention upwards, forced to deal with the onslaught of snakes effortlessly slashing each one before they could sink their teeth into him. Continuing to exploit this one advantage, Lukaz cast again, “A coil of snakes be upon your feet." From beneath the ground, a mirage of snakes wrapped themselves around Darius's feet, attempting to restrict his movement.
The Doll leaned forward in anticipation; hitting Malina's arm, it seemed Lukaz may actually manage to pull this off. Pressing his advantage even further, Lukaz took a deep breath and shouted, “FOUR SNAKES OF INSURMOUNTABLE SIZE FROM EACH SIDE.” As soon as he finished saying this, four snakes appeared on each side of the dueling grounds, reaching the walls in height and stretching from the walls to Darius, all to headbutt Darius, intending to crush his rune with sheer force.
The snakes moved in, just about to impact Darius, before he spoke, “May my wrath take form in an inferno of fury.” At that moment with a single spell, a fiery inferno of red launched out in all directions, dissipating all four snakes as well as every snake above.
Before Lukaz could react, Darius moved, breaking through the snakes that held his feet effortlessly and delivering a blow straight into Lukaz's legs. Lukaz fell to the ground, kneeling before Darius on both of his knees, blood gushing into the sand below.
The Doll felt a panic rise in her chest seeing Lukaz in such a state. It seemed as if the crowd, Malina, Lila—everybody—left her vision as she focused in on the duel. If Lukaz lost, there would be no escape from this duel that kept her status. The Doll would be fated to forever tarnish the Ashencroft lineage.
I don't believe that should be my worry.
Darius looked down at Lukaz and delivered a brutal kick to his stomach as he attempted to get up. Lukaz was sent flying into the dueling grounds wall, bouncing off the stone and falling face-first into the sand. It seemed Lukaz was completely unresponsive as Darius looked towards the faculty box as if waiting for the headmaster to call the duel.
Yet as he did this, Lukaz furled his hands into fists, getting on his knees. He coughed from the strain of the effort, blood coming out of his mouth. Darius heard this and turned around, seeing Lukaz attempt to get up. Seeing that Lukaz was not yet unconscious, Darius moved faster than The Doll could see once again and kicked Lukaz, sending him into another wall.
This time Darius kept his gaze on Lukaz, watching as he got up once again, blood gushing from both his shoulders and legs. Darius seemed far too shocked to act immediately, simply staring at Lukaz. With great effort Lukaz brought his broken sword up, pointing it at Darius as he said, “I-I can't lose.” The Doll watched on and couldn't help but dwell on the fact that regardless of his motives, he was doing this for her.
Lukaz was getting hurt for her.
Darius gritted his teeth and in a moment was on top of Lukaz with his talons curled into a fist that hit his face. Darius punched him and shouted, “WHY?” Grabbing Lukaz by his shirt and bringing him up to his face.
Reeling his head back, Lukaz launched a headbutt, colliding with Darius. The impact seemed to hurt Lukaz more than Darius, who roughly shoved Lukaz into the sand, clearly enraged by the action. After recovering from the shove, Lukaz gave his response, "So—someone like you can never touch her. Ne-never understand her.” Lukaz then moved his head back up in an attempt to deliver another headbutt into Darius.
Why?
Darius, seemingly more enraged by this answer, had that red aura around him grow even more as he delivered another punch into Lukaz's face. “SOMEONE LIKE ME!” Darius shouted, delivering another punch. “A LOWBORN LIKE ME DOESN'T GET THAT RIGHT!” Darius continued with another punch. “I BEAT YOU; I'LL BEAT HER TOO, THEN I'LL SHOW HER PRECIOUS FATHER!” Another punch.
Darius continued this.
Shout.
Punch.
Shout.
Punch.
Over and over and over again The Doll could only watch on.
Why was Lukaz doing this for her? It would be a minor hit to his status. He didn't have the entire Zephyr line riding on his shoulder. He could recover from this; Darius still had major noble blood in his veins. It wasn't worth risking his life to save The Doll from having to duel Darius.
So why?
The sand around Lukaz's head grew darker and darker as it filled with more and more blood. Why wasn't the headmaster stopping this? Was this all a setup? Would anybody stop this duel, or would the headmaster simply stand by and watch Lukaz die? Why should Lukaz have to die on The Doll’s account? Why was nobody stopping this?
The world around The Doll slowly grew darker until it was filled with darkness as she continued to ask herself these questions. It was only then that she saw its piercing blue eyes stare into her soul.
The Strings.
The Doll found herself unable to move as she stared into its blue eyes, and then it teleported like it had so long ago behind The Doll holding her close to its chest. It ran its hand through her hair in an unnaturally stiff movement. Only then did it speak to her, “I could stop this; I don't need anybody else.” The Doll attempted to respond but found herself unable to. The Strings deemed that it wasn't her time to speak yet.
Continuing to stroke her hair The Strings leaned into The Doll's ear, allowing The Doll to feel it brush against her skin. It opened its mouth to speak again, allowing The Doll to feel its cold breath. “Darius would be nothing to me if I just accepted myself.” Was The Strings truly telling the truth? Would Darius be nothing to her? Could she save Lukaz?
The Strings vanished once again, reappearing in front of The Doll with its hand extended out. It spoke again, looking The Doll in her eyes with that face that looked identical to her own, “I should accept myself, love myself.” Maybe The Doll should listen to The Strings.
Lukaz was getting hurt because of her.
Because she was too useless, unable to use even the simplest magic.
If The Doll accepted The Strings she could save him.
As if reading her thoughts The Strings spoke once again, “I know I want to save him. I feel pity that he would subject himself to this for me. I am a good person.” The Doll attempted to move a finger and found that The Strings had decided she could move now.
The Doll could walk forward and take The Strings hand.
The Doll knew she couldn't trust it. The Strings was a creature that claimed to be her and attempted to take over her life.
But maybe.
Maybe it would be better if it took over her life.
The Ashencroft lineage may even have a suitable heir.