Blade Over Magic

Resolution

Mary’s sister didn’t understand it.

Even though she was clearly unstable, she still understood combat well, and in Spirit based combat, especially those who used the same attribute, the things that mattered the most were output, control, and authority.

The last one especially. As no matter what, if one side was unable to properly control their attribute in front of their opponent, they were bound to lose eventually.

And she had to admit, Mary’s authority was much more potent than the last time they met, so much so that she actually found it hard to seize it from her. And in a few instances during the fight, Mary had actually shown some superiority on that front. But it wasn’t so extreme that the sister couldn’t work around it.

Hence, she only used just enough authority to ensure that her magic wouldn’t be turned against her, and she turned to another aspect where she was definitely superior to Mary, and that was output.

To her, all she needed to do what whittle her down and keep up the pressure. She was bound to make a mistake at some point, as even though Mary had superior authority control, she’d been on the defensive for much of the battle. If the pressure was kept high enough, and for long enough, the result was bound to be her loss.

But that isn’t what happened.

No, rather, Mary didn’t follow the ’script’.

After she took on that strange stance, the direction of the fight had changed dramatically.

The first thing was range.

Unlike her sister, Mary didn’t partially transform into her true form. So initially, she was on the backfoot whenever it came to close quarters combat, making her keep her distance and rely on ranged attacks. But when she began to use Kung Fu, this changed.

Suddenly, she was right in her sister’s attack range, and she fought in ways that she simply did not understand. In ways that spirits never fought before.

While in the horse stance, Mary relied on side strikes and elbow attacks which seemed to completely bypass any barrier her sister put up to defend her body. Moreover, the power behind these strikes was astounding. And it’s not just because she was augmenting herself using wind.

No, rather, it was because in conjunction with that, true channeling was in play. Her mana flowed through her body according to how she moved, and when she struck out, the part she used to strike carried far more power than should have been possible.

When he sister tried to attack wildly, Mary would then switch to wrestling her, grabbing her arms and stopping her from getting any sort of purchase.

It honestly looked a bit weird from an outsider’s perspective as the battle which had been nothing short of apocalyptic became much quieter, yet her sister was actually struggling.

| Ugh. ENOUGH! | She roared and a torrent of wind erupted from her body, the sheer output devastating. But instead of Mary getting pushed away, she firmed her stance and brought her hands together, aiming them forward like a spearhead as she leaned forward.

Like an arrow cutting through water, she ’sliced’ through the torrent using her stance and localized wind manipulation.

Startled to see that Mary was still in front of her, the sister failed to react as Mary changed her stance. Her right leg stomped forward into a deep bend, tye knee over her toes, while her back leg remained locked and straight, bearing most of her weight.

’It should be like this, right?’ Mary thought to herself as she made two fists and punched out.

Her sister gritted her teeth and brought her wings inward, making them wrap around her. Layers of wind stacked on them as she coiled her body tight. She realized that since Mary was somehow bypassing her defenses, she would use her wings to block. That way, even if the reinforcement still failed, that’s the only thing that would take damage.

But the...

Mary’s figure dispersed into tendrils of wind, and her sister was not prepared when Mary appeared directly behind her, her fists striking her exposed back.

Her fists seemed to exhibit a suction force that pulled her even harder into them, as when they struck, her sister saw stars.

She didn’t go flying. No, rather, where Mary struck, like there was an invisible rotation around her fists, the flesh she struck began to rip in a spiraling manner as her fists dug deeper and deeper until it began to rip into muscle.

The shriek that was drawn was terrifying, but Mary wasn’t done.

She pulled her fists back, then opened her hands as she struck again rapidly with her palms. It wasn’t only two hits this time as her palms struck all over her back, especially the base of her wings, with such force that visible indentations the shape of her palms appeared all over her sister’s back, and like the punches, the skin where these impacts occurred was ripped in a spiraling manner, causing her back to appear like a bloody mess.

Like Xander and Falael, Mary had also adapted the martial arts and channeling to invent her own set of moves. And this one? It was...

’Typhoon Assault.’

Her sister spat out blood, and her eyes burned as on her wings, numerous tiny magic circles appeared and aimed at Mary while one of her bird legs kicked backwards, spiraling winds creating a terrifying sharpness.

But rather than panic, Mary just noted something.

’Hm. It seems like when you learn proper martial arts, predicting physical attacks, and perhaps attacks in general, becomes that much easier.’ With that thought, she sidestepped her sister’s leg, then proceeded to viciously jab her elbow into the base of her spine.

A soundless scream left her mouth as the magic circles flickered before dying out, then Mary wrapped her arms around her waist as she channeled her mana into her upper body.

Using her authority to make the space behind her more durable, she...

Gave her sister a suplex.

And it wasn’t a normal suplex either.

Space splintered and shattered as all that force was condensed into her sister’s spine, and there was an audible ’crack’ as something broke.

Her body went limp as Mary let go of her, leaving her to lie flatly on her back.

Straightening, Mary looked at her sister who stared upward, her breaths coming out in sharp wheezes as she tried and failed to move, her spine well and truly broken.

Such a thing shouldn’t have been enough to stop her ordinarily. After all, she was a spirit. Her physical body was more of a suggestion than anything. The problem was that Mary wasn’t attacking just physically. Her mana was also constantly interfering with her body, preventing it from behaving how she wanted it to.

| Not... Yet... | She gasped out, her pupils becoming sharp like slits as wind started to gather around her body, the number of feathers increasing. She wanted to enter her true form fully.

But before she could...

BANG

Mary’s fist smashed hard into her skull, ceasing all movements as her eyes rolled back.

Mary exhaled a smoothened her dress. Then she transformed her hand similar to her sister’s, and she plunged it deep into her chest.

Her arm kept going deeper and deeper, and rather than come out the back, Mary’s whole arm somehow managed to enter without emerging on the other side, and she seemed to be searching for something as, eventually, she grabbed something, and she strained a bit before pulling it free.

Wind gushed out of the wind, and Mary stared at the item in her hand.

It looked like a miniature mountain peak, and the aura it gave off was... incredible.

As someone sensitive to wind and the related concepts, Mary could feel the sheer density of the two it carried.

This was something her parent had given all her siblings. Except for Mary of course, and now...

PLUNGE

Mary drove her hand into her own chest, her face twitching slightly as the pain... was nothing to scoff at. But when she did it, her own aura began to rise significantly as her body began to digest this item.

When she had properly entrenched it into her existence, she looked down and saw that her sister’s body was already beginning to dissipate.

After a second, Mary moved to sit next to her.

”I used to resent you, Morgan.” She spoke, her voice no longer utilizing authority.

”I don’t know what our parent told you that caused you to act the way you did. Though, I have an inkling now. It doesn’t excuse your actions, but I somewhat understand. However, I’m no longer the weak little spirit who needed your protection from everything. I think what transpired here is proof of that. And...” Mary stared off into the distance.

”I’m happier where I am. The role I’ve taken, it wasn’t forced upon me, no...” She recalled how by chance, she managed to escape the domain of her parent, and how her sister, Morgan, had been in hot pursuit.

But just when she was about to be caught, a figure appeared from no where, effortlessly blasting Morgan away and reducing her massive true form into a bundle of wind. Mary still had no clue how she survived that.

”.. I chose it. And I don’t regret a single day. Watching Milord grow and improve... It’s far more fulfilling than anything I could have ever gotten from that place. Anything I could have ever gotten from you.” She looked at Morgan directly. Her eyes had opened again, and she was staring at Mary with a look of what seemed like realization, and perhaps regret.

”As for what is coming... I’m preparing, and I’m still getting stronger as well. But I’m not alone. I have people I believe will watch my back and will stand by me when the time comes. And even if we fail, well... I don’t regret a single day of it. Take solace in that fact, Morgan. I’m happy.” When she finished, Morgan looked up, her body was almost completely gone now.

She smiled, and sighed.

”Ah... my little sister...” Her body fully dispersed as one last set of words was left behind.

”... is all grown up...”

Mary watched the last tendrils of wind vanish, and she sat there for a good few minutes before she sighed.

She then looked up and saw Mia standing on front of her, the short girl chewing on a sausage.

”You done?” She asked simply.

”... Yes. Is Milord alright?” Mary asked as she stood.

”Physically? Sure. Mentally, depends.” She shrugged.

”Anyway, let’s get out here.” With that, Mary nodded, and the two of them vanished before the constructed space time vanished.