Chapter 26: Irreverent Spear Of Sigrun (I)
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Only four days remained until the Gremory's would have their match with Riser Phenex.
And as per usual, Raynare was walking down the steps from Takauji's bedroom into the underground training area. Prepared to start her regiment for the day.
Or so she thought.
"Oh, you're here early."
Normally she would arrive before he did, but today seemed to be different.
Takauji was sat down cross-legged with his back facing her, the sword Kiba had given him stabbed into the ground beside him.
"I was wondering where you were since you weren't in bed when I woke up. Trying to obtain another tough technique I presume?"
He didn't respond.
Instead, he slowly opened his eyes and grasped the hilt of his sword. Standing upright with his freshly cleaned alloy reflected in the artificial lighting around them.
Raynare simply raised a brow, wondering what was going on with his sudden mood shift.
"You feeling alright? I could get you some water if you want–"
"We're going to be fighting today," words finally left his mouth.
"Sparring? Alright, I've been working on my [Licht Vene] quite a bit lately so I could actually use some field testing."
"You didn't hear me, we're going to be fighting, not sparring."
A chill crawled down her spine as he turned around, his eyes now meeting hers with an all too familiar look in them.
The same one he had when they met in the church.
When he looked at her with nothing but contempt.
"Only one of us will be leaving here by the time it's over. So make sure you fight me with all you've got."
Not a word he spoke held so much as a hint of emotion within them.
They were cold, lifeless, and heavy.
"If this is some sort of joke… then I'll have to admit I'm not finding it very funny."
Raynare's tone soon turned grim, the atmosphere around her starting to settle in as each second passed.
"Look at me Raynare," she was forced to meet his icy glare. "What part of this feels like a joke to you?"
He calmly started to approach her, causing the Fallen Angel to reflexively take a step back.
But after hearing the sound of a thud from behind, she soon turned around only to notice that the exit had been sealed shut.
"Like I said, only one of us will be leaving here, all that's left is for you to decide who that ends up being."
She clenched her fist, not sure what to make of the current situation.
"What's gotten into you all of a sudden… Takauji-sama?"
"You're not useful to me anymore," her heart skipped a beat as her pupils dilated. "So I've decided to get rid of you myself, however me being the good sport I am, I thought it would be best for you to die in a fair fight as opposed to a forced execution."
She couldn't believe the words coming out of his mouth, not only because of their substance. But because of the fact they felt real.
"You're lying…"
It didn't make sense. Nothing had changed, he had praised her countless times throughout her training.
A sudden shift in demeanor like this didn't compute, he had to be lying.
But why? What purpose would there be behind such a lie?
"Am I now?" He chuckled darkly, pointing the tip of his blade towards her.
CHILLS!
Calling upon his Mana reserves that surpassed that of even a High-Class Devil, Raynare was forced to bear the pressure of all his aura crashing down on her.
Making it abundantly clear that this was a fight to the death.
"You've known me for a fair bit of time, does it look like I'm joking?"
"I…"
She couldn't bring herself to answer. Her heart knew the truth, but she just couldn't bring herself to admit it. It was too painful to say aloud.
"No matter, if words won't do it for you then perhaps actions will."
First he started by activating [Umbral Rope] in its close quarters form, and then closed the distance between them with [Shadow Step].
CLANG!
His blade met with the [Licht Vene] coursing through her arms, Raynare clenching her teeth as she felt the edge of his alloy trying to tear its way through her skin.
"You've got a knack for that ability. I'll give you that, but don't forget who it was who taught it to you."
She felt her blood cool as a cut opened up a few inches away from where his blade was.
He had used [Phantom Blade].
"If your body doesn't know where the attack is going to be to begin with, then that ability is useless."
Raynare was forced to endure a flurry of cuts before she managed to give herself any breathing room.
Her heart continued to thump harder than it ever had before. The hairs on the back of her neck started to stand up.
"All those hours put into training you, as I thought, they really were all for nothing."
It was then that she remembered.
Takauji had also taught her how to counter his illusions.
"I don't know why you're doing this, Takauji-sama–"
"Still calling me -sama even in this situation? You really are just a shallow, hopeless, boastful child. What did the past me see in you anyways?"
She forced herself to ignore the heart wrenching remarks of disgust.
"–but don't forget that I trained even when you weren't looking."
She activated [Mana Sense], her proficiency of which had increased greatly since the last time he had taught her it.
But he didn't seem impressed in the least.
"Is this all you're capable of doing? Using my hand-me-downs? Even if you trained alone, it means nothing if you're not actually capable of thinking for yourself in the first place. You're just a robot that can't do a thing without my input."
The Magician held his free hand out, opening his palm fully.
"[Shamak]."
In seconds, she had been enshrouded in a veil of black smoke. Her [Mana Sense] is no longer able to differentiate what was, and what wasn't.
SLICE!
And before she knew it, she was met with the sensation of sharp metal tearing through her back, all the way from her shoulder to her waist.
"To think this is all you're capable of despite the blessings you've been endowed with. You aren't even remotely worthy of being my Primera."
She tumbled to the floor with labored breaths, ending up on all fours as she glanced towards the numbered mark on the back of her right hand.
Blood continued to leave her body by the second, the cold getting every stronger the more Takauji tore away at her.
"Hah, you're just jealous you don't have any blessings of your own. Isn't that right?" At long last, she had found the energy to snap back at him.
"Indeed, obviously I do not require the help of any blessings to dispose of someone as weak as you." Then again, challenging him in verbal warfare was a right reserved for only the Sitri heiress.
With sweat dripping down her body, the Fallen Angel started to haul herself to her feet.
"Actually, you do have one blessing now that I think of it."
Raynare started to make use of [Twilight Healing], a soothing green aura soon sealing the wound on her back.
"And what would that be?"
She smiled, bringing out her pink [Light Spear].
"Me."
Takauji raised a brow.
"You?"
Raynare watched as his body started to twitch, his shoulders shifting up and down as if he was trying to withhold something.
"Ha…"
The Mage facepalmed as he shook his head.
"Hahaha… AHAHAHAHA! YOU CAN STILL MAKE JOKES WITH A RAVINE IN YOUR BACK? HOW AMUSING! HOW TRULY AMUSING!"
His harrowing laughter continued to reverberate throughout the entire training chamber, Raynare's eyes widening as she couldn't believe what she was witnessing.
Her master appeared– manic.
It took almost half a minute for his cackling to finally die down.
"You're almost like a mosquito come to think of it, endlessly buzzing around things hundreds of times the size of it. Oh, maybe the way you've been leeching off me is an analogy for how they suck blood? Yeah, that sounds about right."
He glared at her, his pupils filled with nothing but spite.
"Have you forgotten? You are nothing more than a servant, that is exactly what I told you when we made the pact was it not? You need me to survive, not the other way around."
"You also said I was an extension of you…"
"So? That doesn't mean you can't be a shitty extension, which you are by the way. All the more reason for me to get rid of you already."
With each venomous insult, she felt another dagger being run straight through her heart.
She hated it, she hated it more than anything she had hated before.
Why did her master sound so genuine? It was an act. It had to be.
"Everything you've obtained up to this point was because of me. Your survival against the Gremory's, this home, these facilities, even the chance to talk to your beloved Azazel-sama again. Think about it brat, just what would your life be without me? Oh that's right, nothing, because you'd be dead."
Tears started to well up in her eyes, both her heart and [Twilight Healing] starting to respond to the visceral emotion she was experiencing.
"You failed Azazel. He told you that himself, didn't he?"
Watery droplets of salt continued to stream down the sides of her face.
"And now you've failed me. We both asked the bare minimum of you, but you just can't even do that much can you? Raynare, the great Fallen Angel of uselessness. That's all you've ever been, and ever will be."
A devilish grin crawled up his mouth, scorning Raynare in every way imaginable.
"Aw, did I make you cry? Ha, I guess that suits your character pretty well all things considered. Failure, traitor, crybaby, you're basically hoarding titles at this point. I'm envious, I haven't been given even one."
Her spirit felt weak, almost depleting to the point where she couldn't even hold her [Light Spear] anymore.
Maybe she thought death would be more pleasant than having to hear him speak to her in such a way.
"Cry all you want brat, even if you grovel at my feet you won't earn an ounce of pity from me. Speaking of pity, that's probably the only reason I took you in to begin with wouldn't you agree? I'm a human after all, so your pathetic display probably hit me with some kind of sense of sympathy."
She could hear the sound of him dragging his blade through the ground as he approached.
"Oh well, at least your tears might do the barren soil some good."
It was only a matter of seconds before Takauji's next offensive began.
"You're…"
"What? Speak up for fuck sake, I can't hear a damn thing that's coming out of your slutty mouth."
He mockingly cupped a hand around his ear.
"You're genuinely trying to kill me… aren't you?"
"Duh, I need to make room for an actually useful servant don't I? And besides, I kinda just want to get rid of you on principle alone."
The prospect of her being replaced stung even more than the idea of her being deposed.
"Very well… in that case…"
In a single burst, her strength increased by at least 30%, both the aura's of her Light Mana and [Twilight Healing] shining radiantly from her being.
"... I will kill you first."
She had used the overclocking technique, the first one Takauji had ever taught her.
Raynare clasped her [Light Spear] as tight as she could, to the point where the friction almost burned her hand.
"Yeah yeah, I'm not even surprised at this point. All you seem to be capable of doing is throwing out stuff I've spoon-fed you. You're nothing but a manchild, or would it be womanchild? I dunno."
Round 2 had begun.
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Raynare's seems to have more guts that most would think, good for her.
10+ Advance Chapters: patreon.com/Accel14
Discord Link: KQAtTw9u7x
Word Count: 2049
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