Bab 96: The Grand Coven III
Irwin didn't know how it had come to this.
All he wanted to do was rile up the Grand Coven and make them think that he was more powerful than he truly was.
From there, through a series of ploys and commendation from the trio of immortal and gods, he would gather enough leverage to confirm an alliance between him–who was backed by the power of Lady Anastasia and a handful of other purely fictional witches–and what remained of the Grand Coven.
All he needed was to defeat Katja and Hansel through physical strength, then do another Command to proclaim his might and his backing's enigmatic prowess. He did not actually expect for there to be an ancient ritualistic duel that settles ties and arguments between two powerful witches.
For a duel between two witches was as much about magical power as it was about their knowledge of spells and how to counter it. In fact, it was considered in poor taste to use a spell more than once, even if the spell could be used in different ways.
What truly set him on the path of fuckedness, however, was that his spells, more often than not, needed hex bags and he only had one in hand.
The Indestructible Hex Bag.
Sure, he could have bought one, but it costs 20 credits for a decent one that could actually take his spells without being destroyed mid-fight. Add in the costs of the ingredients, he would be better off sticking to his first plan.
Total domination.
Since the Flaming Whip could exist as long as he supplied it with his energy, all he needed to do was to dominate the battlefield and let them know what a genuine witch looks like. Of course, while only using the Flaming Whip for, once it's gone, he might as well have lost the duel.
This was what was on Irwin's mind as he scanned his surroundings, awed by the magnificently trimmed hedges of the courtyard. The dueling grounds had been decided to be at the back of the castle proper, thus allowing the fight to be viewed by the witches serving within.
A nice little propaganda fight, so as to reduce the unrest because of Lady Anastasia's supposed displeased attitude to the Grand Coven.
"Are you ready, Lord Irwin? Are you ready, Lady Katja?" The other Grand Witch's voice brought him out of his reverie as he turned towards his immediate surroundings.
According to the sacred texts of the progenitor of the Grand Coven, they were to have a dueling ground consisting of a fifty-foot circle of sand bordered by a circle of smooth stones. Four pillars inscribed with rune located on each quadratic side, allowing a defensive warding that would activate once it detects a magical output that could theoretically kill a combatant.
He looked back and saw the trio sharing a small table, drinking tea and stuffing their faces with cake alongside High Priestess Olivette.
Traitors, he thought.
He had already bought the necessary ingredients for the Flaming Whip and created it using the Indestructible Hex Bag. Which meant, henceforth, he would be able to use the Flaming Whip spell without worry, save, of course, if he were to lose the hex bag.
Katja, along with Hansel, entered the circle. The man of myth was designated as a familiar–something Irwin does not have–and was allowed as secondary combatant.
Irwin had expected them to do so because he knew that for these vile witches–trickery was but a second nature.
"We are ready." Katja grinned, speaking in a high-tone and grandmotherly voice.
"Ready, Lady whoever-you-are." Irwin said with a mocking smile, earning the ire of the Grand Witch and what appears to be her acolytes or underlings. Truly, he did not know the term for a witch's students for, after all, he was not really one.
Just as the unnamed Grand Witch was about to burst into anger, Olivette snapped her fingers and activated the runes upon the monoliths.
The duel had begun.
There was a beat of silence as anticipation swell within the audience, only the sounds of the trio munching upon their snacks could be heard.
The beat, however, did not last long as Hansel growled like a mammoth and sprinted towards Irwin with ill intent. The man's large physique became even more overbearing as Katja buffed him with one spell after another, her eyes glowing with an eerie crimson light.
Hansel, with all his enchantment spells, might have been fast to some, but not to Irwin. For him, the man from the folktales was as slow as a slug in LSD.
But he knew better than to underestimate his enemy, even if he had already seen the extent of her capability.
His taut legs quivered under the strength with which he exerted upon the ground as he launched himself upon Hansel with speed that overcame gravity. He winded his right arm as far back as he could before releasing a punch that dislocated the very air, the full extent of his Level 4 Enhanced Physique showing off its true might.
All the audience saw was that for a single moment, Hansel had been so close to winning the fight single-handedly for his strength and speed, matched not by his opponent, but the next, a fine pink mist had spread across the dueling grounds.
Showering those near enough with a spray of vivid hues should have been a moment filled with joyous laughter but was instead met with horrified gasps as Hansel's headless body crumpled like a piece of paper and fell to the ground.
Irwin had a smirk on his face which was wrought with blood and crushed bones. "I suppose I should've left some crumbs for her sister."
His words further enraged Katja as she threw a fit, wailing her arms around as an indescribably ferocious purple energy emerged from her eyes and mouth.
Irwin's body hair turned upwards as a sense of danger heightened to an impossible degree.
A wave of energy emerged from within her, visible only by the wave of sand that launched towards Irwin like a yellow-gold tsunami.
Having had an inkling of the imminent danger, Irwin leaped towards Hansel's body and used the corpse as a human shield, sheltering him from the battering sands and the cutting winds.
The wave of energy was quick to die down, but the onslaught it caused was visible for all to see. The back of Hansel's corpse bore the brunt of the damage and it was as if a blood-thirsty shark had been set upon him, gnawing even the bone and leaving nothing but sliced muscles to the sides.
Such a destructive wave of telekinetic energy was sure to exhaust Katja, even more so for her control of her magik had been brought to a humiliating degree by her sheer wrath.
As such, when Irwin saw her panting chest and flushed cheers and reddened eyes, he did not waste time to grasp the hex bag within his left hand and roar, "Flagello!"
To the surprise of the crowd, Irwin finally cast a spell–an offensive one, at that.
The roiling azure flames took the shape of a long elastic whip as it coiled around his arm and engulfed it in the form of a blazing gauntlet.
Neither combatants showed any signs of banter as Katja emitted a more dangerous purple glow. Cuts appeared on her body, pouring blood on to her skin and nearly pooling to the ground.
Nearly, being the operative word as the blood soon gravitated to her center and formed dozens, if not hundreds, of small kitchen knives with which she pushed towards the incoming form of Irwin Bellios.
Although the knives were small, the large quantity almost put the audience into a spell of frenzy, at least those who were weak enough not to withstand the effects of Katja's attack.
Irwin, however, merely pushed through, a smirk on his face as he concentrated his magical energy to a singular point.
"Disperse."
A familiar yet wholly different wave of energy spread across the dueling grounds as the blood knives turned back into its liquid state before plopping to the ground and creating dozens of miniscule puddles.
The wave hit Katja and, instead of doing any direct damage to her, merely forced her to disperse the spell she was currently using. Such an act startled the centuries-old witch, having no inkling as to why she did so, but, alas, the after-effects of canceling the spell so abruptly had given her no time to contemplate.
"Ack!"
More blood erupted out of her body, though this time, it had been purely incidental and detrimental to her duel.
Her gaze had been hampered by the blood, so did her other senses. In fact, if not for her hundreds of years of experience and soaking in pure magik, she would not have heard the two words that signified her doom.
"Brimstone–"
"No!" Although blurry, she could see the vague outline of a ball of fire coming towards her. The heat scalded her very skin, boiling what had remained of the blood on her body.
"Blow!"
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