Last Born Of The Desdemona

Chapter 33: Chapter 33: Duel [1]

Chapter 33 – Duel [1]

”Don’t look at me like that, darling.”

Cassius said with a wide grin, standing a couple of metres from Isolde whose eyes were dripping with fury.

But he could see more than fury in them. Embarrassment too. And a shyness no one would ever expect from such a hardened woman.

’Aye. That’s what happens when you receive barely any real attention for years. And what little you do receive is all disdain and scorn.’

Even something as small as the idea of sharing a bed with a man was enough to make her lose all composure.

[...as little, you said?] Ananke’s incredulous voice boomed inside his mind. [Are you serious?]

’Queen, please, it’s not like I am asking to do anything unholy with her, am I?’

[That doesn’t make it any less disturbing!]

’A shy wife and a shy Goddess.’ Cassius stopped himself from laughing under Isolde’s glare. ’Am I blessed or cursed?’

[...]

Ananke chose silence, afraid of losing patience entirely.

Cassius shrugged internally and took in the room around him.

It was a wide, enclosed, painted black and purple room. The floor was processed black wood, the kind found only in the Amaris Household. Racks of wooden weapons stood in the right corner, leaning against the wall, all of them Katana of varying styles.

Nothing else.

Wooden puppets were scattered across the training ground — some worn out, some destroyed, some barely standing.

’Isolde’s training ground.’ He looked back at his soon-to-be wife. She seemed to be returning to herself, the worst of her anger settling.

”You asked me to choose.” Cassius tilted his head. ”Well, now I did, darling. Do you accept?”

Isolde narrowed her purple eyes. She wanted to take back her words, but she decided against it; she wasn’t going to lose anyway, even with her power restrained.

Still, she hated that beautiful gloating face.

”One night.” She countered, raising a finger. ”One night only.” Then she scoffed. ”If you win, that is.”

Cassius smiled.

Above his head, his two Snake Loops were still very much present. And at that moment, the urge to close the First Loop finally struck him with clarity.

He had been failing for days, melting his brain for an answer out of the wall. And after enough failure, the answer had finally surfaced.

The basics. He had been missing the basics.

Decision made, he reached into his space ring and put away his weapon. Isolde tilted her head, eyebrow arching.

”Bare hands.” Cassius said, lips pulling upward, settling into a boxing stance, fists raised in front of him. ”I accept, but only if it’s hands only. No weapons.”

He had been trying to learn dual wielding without even having a basic grasp of unarmed combat first. There was something fundamental about using his body that could only be unlocked by starting there.

And he was right as the First Loop hissed in approval.

His smile widened, and widened further when he saw the wide grin split Isolde’s beautiful face. With the scar running along her lips, Cassius’s heart skipped a beat.

’Ah, right. She loves hand to hand combat.’

He chuckled.

”As you will.” Isolde answered, taking her stance. ”And for daring to propose that to me, I might even let you eat something not poisoned during your stay if you win.”

Cassius’s lips twitched. ’So this girl was planning to feed me poisoned food until I left?’

He didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Probably both.

”No need.” Cassius shook his head, seeing another opportunity for a new Snake Loop. ”Instead, allow me to hug you when we sleep.”

Isolde’s face went red. ”You—!”

”Yes or no.” He cut in, smiling with clear provocation. ”Or are you afraid?”

She knew he was provoking her. She damn well knew it. Yet she fell for it anyway, her heart suddenly filled with the urge to give him hope she would crush with her fist.

”I will make you swallow that smile, bastard.” She said at last.

Cassius smiled, his muscles constricting and tightening. Both Snake Loops hissed in anticipation of being closed.

He was very eager.

The two fiancés locked eyes accros the distance. A stiff tension swelled and swallowed the entire training room.

Silence hushed everything, but it didn’t last.

Then, as if reaching an unspoken agreement simultaneously, both kicked off the ground and launched toward each other.

Isolde was faster, a gust of wind picked up behind her, and she reached Cassius before he was ready.

Her right hand was a blur, whipping straight for his right cheek. Cassius blocked with the back of his forearm — winced, felt his bones rattle — and ducked under the follow-up from her left.

He ate Isolde’s knee directly in his nose instead.

Pain ruptured his face. His head snapped backward with a blistering crack, blood spraying the air.

He staggered two steps back, swaying with dizziness, body stooped over. Isolde whistled past him and stood behind him, hands clasped together like a hammer, already driving them down toward his back with a wide grin.

Cassius let himself drop flat on his stomach at the last instant. Isolde’s attack missed, the momentum throwing her forward.

Her feet stumbled, and her eyes went wide as Cassius tackled her feet with a sweep of savage strength.

Before her back hit the ground, he was already up. He twisted his torso sharply, his right fist driving straight for her face.

Her two hands crossed in front of her instantly. She groaned as her back slammed into the floor, Cassius’s fist hammering her guard.

His left fist was already on its way. Isolde’s teeth ground hard at his unexpected strength.

The second fist came to within an inch of her face, and Isolde uncrossed her hands and tilted her head just enough. Cassius’s fist smashed the floor.

Pain exploded through his knuckles, bones fracturing. His eyes went wide.

He cursed.

Isolde grinned coldly. Her legs rose and wrapped around his waist like a coiling snake.

She pressed her forearms flat on the ground, then pushed herself backward, the combined strength of her arms and legs launching Cassius forward, face-first, past her head.

Instinctively, his hands snapped onto the ground before his face hit. They locked eyes in that strange position, each one grinning.

And again, as if they could understand each other without words...

...the two activated their First Skills at the exact same moment.

But before the loss of sound could reach him, Cassius had already used fire beneath his palms. They turned crimson as if soaked in blood, then bubbles of flame detonated underneath and flung him through the air.

He backflipped, using rapid bursts of fire as a guide, and landed cleanly on the ground several metres away.

He looked at Isolde, blood still running from the earlier knee strike. He wiped it silently, unable to hide his excitement.

Isolde rose from the floor. Nothing had changed on her, but Cassius could already feel a headache hammering inside his skull.

He glanced above his head, seeing both Snake Loops were closer to completion. The First Loop had only a small, nearly negligible gap remaining. The Second had jumped forward dramatically the moment Isolde activated her Skill.

Cassius smiled, spat blood to his right, and refocused on Isolde.

”Second round, darling?” He grinned, the fire around him burning brighter, redder, coiling into the shape of a hissing snake. The air around them wavered, the temperature climbing to a blistering heat.

Isolde mirrored his expression. She had understood something just now: she had been lied to. Or rather, all of them had.

Cassius Desdemona was not talentless. The bastard was a sneaky bastard.

Yet her grin grew wider, her eyes glowed with a brighter shade of purple.

”Second round, bastard.”

—End of Chapter 33—