Rustle! Rustle!
The rustling of the trees whispered nearby as they parted to make a path for the newest guest to this gathering. The wind whistled softly, and the numerous crows looked in interest.
Golden hair cascading down her back, her dark brown eyes reflecting the midnight sky with a delicate essence. Although she was weaponless, her strength was eminent. Her figure emanated an ethereal green aura, as if channeling the essence of Mother Nature herself. On her head was a beautiful laurel of flowers and leaves.
She calmly walked through the forest, and with every step she took, she catalyzed the blades of grass behind her. Growing them into tall emerald stalks, which bent and twisted into her hand as a tree-like rapier.
Simultaneously, the nearby trees clung to her back, forming into a greenish-brown overcoat.
She calmly raised her blade and pointed it towards the two men in melee combat, after which, her eyes would glow an ethereal grassy green.
Vines protruded from the ground beside her, shooting towards the two men fighting.
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Clang!
The Lord of Shadows was blocking a strike using the hilt of his scythe, when a sudden vine strike shot straight towards him, unfortunately because he commanded the nearby shadows to surge towards him, he couldn't quite anticipate the attack.
Whoosh!
It quickly wrapped around his arm and started thrashing him around on the ground, creating a window for Sang Pianyi to intercept and get a clean attack on him.
After realizing the situation at hand, the Lord of Shadows began to form saws out of the shadows to cut the vines apart. But before he could, Sang Pianyi had already gone in for an attack, stabbing his crow longsword towards the Lord of Shadows' chest.
The blade sunk deep, and began to drink its target's blood. The Lord of Shadows winced slightly, before smiling down at the mid-stab Sang Pianyi.
He ripped his arm out of the constraints of the vine leisurely, before grasping onto the crow longsword tightly. Taking a deep breath, he yanked it out of his body, revealing a medium-sized gash.
Sasha remained on the outskirts, not wanting to interfere with the fight directly, so as to not get in the way of Sang Pianyi's moves. Playing as a support here, she utilized her abilities as a Reader of Nature to mobilize the aspects of the natural world to restrain and combat the Lord of Shadows, relying on Sang Pianyi to draw the man's attention while this happened so she wouldn't be targetted.
Flowers bloomed in a ring around where the Lord of Shadows stood, each facing towards him and smiling. This was one of the abilities of a Reader of Nature, another being...
Sasha analyzed the current situation with precision, '...Tons of arrogance comin' from the shadowy guy, hmm...' She was able to deduce the man's nature within moments of viewing.
Due to the man's arrogance, fleeing was unlikely, as he would only retreat in a completely unwinnable situation.
'Sangsang..'
Sang Pianyi continued slashing at the Lord of Shadows, with machine-like efficiency, no wasted movements at all. This battering ram of an attack was able to push his enemy back away from Sasha's general direction, as well as force the Lord of Shadows into fighting defensively.
Kling!
As another sword strike was deflected and sparks rained into the air, the Lord of Shadows suddenly raised his open palm towards Sang Pianyi, calling upon an unusually shaped shadow, which quickly latched onto him before he could react and sunk deep into his body.
Immediately, he felt...incorrect. As a feral instinct overtook Sang Pianyi, he growled at the Lord of Shadows before clawing at him with his talon fingers.
With a resounding clang, his left hand was deflected by the back of the shadowy scythe, before he was struck in the lower abdomen by the Lord of Shadows' fist, sending him reeling back.
His mind was jumbled and frenzied, but he had an inkling of anticipation. So he continued charging at the Lord of Shadows, not giving him the moment to think about anything else but the threat at hand.
Twirling his scythe around his arms, the Lord of Shadows stylishly blocked and deflected Sang Pianyi's talon attacks, to which Sang Pianyi would snarl disgruntledly.
The Lord of Shadows laughed at this sight.
"Look at you! What a mighty fine specimen we have here! Ah..." The Lord of Shadows mocked.
He then grabbed Sang Pianyi's chin with his left hand, tilting it upwards as he looked down upon him. Before raising his scythe, and cleaving towards his neck.
Drops of blood fell upon the warm earth, as the scythe cut through around a fourth of Sang Pianyi's neck before he was able to stop it, barely avoiding an immediately fatal blow. He fell back and clutched his neck whilst panting breathlessly.
The Lord of Shadows managed to catch a few drops of crimson liquid in his hand, and licked it in curiosity.
"Mmm...Quite the unique flavor, are you sure you wouldn't like to work for me?"
Still in a strange state, Sang Pianyi grunted a reply. "I'd have to decline."
Then, he raised his crow longsword and cut towards his head with stubborn determination, forcing him to block using the blade of his scythe, giving Sang Pianyi the window to abandon his longsword, duck underneath and deliver a savage palm strike to the Lord of Shadows' upper chest.
His arm tore into the body of the Lord of Shadows, dealing immense damage to him. simultaneously, it made the Lord of Shadows delegate shadows into bandaging his wounds, forcing him to remove the shadow placed inside of Sang Pianyi to conserve the limited Ingenuity he had left. While this happened, the Lord of Shadows smirked mischievously and readied to stab Sang Pianyi from behind using the tip of his scythe blade. He coughed blood sinisterly, before bringing his blade down.
"How predictable."
As the teeth of the scythe were about to sink into Sang Pianyi's back, he used the stored up Ingenuity inside of his Anecdote of Self, to strengthen his own body to surpass the Lord of Shadows for the next minute or so.
The scythe hit his back, and shattered into millions of shadow fragments, which scattered into the air in a cloud of black dust.
Now, it was Sang Pianyi's turn to smirk, as his wings grew grander and more suffocating, and his eyes developed an avian glare. His left arm that still resided in the Lord of Shadows' body began to emanate a chilling aura, decaying the Lord of Shadows from inside.
"Didn't you know? Scythes aren't suited for combat."
The Lord of Shadows was about to cut himself out of this situation, when several roots grew from the ground and locked his arms in place. These roots possessed the properties of some of the strongest metal, and were able to momentarily stop his escape.
Then, Sang Pianyi grabbed the Lord of Shadows by the throat, and began to squeeze with all his strength.
The Lord of Shadows coughed and sputtered in pain while he glared at Sang Pianyi.
"V-vermin..."
Pushed into a corner, the Lord of Shadows resorted to a hail mary move, funneling all of his remaining ingenuity into it.
Three large behemoths of shadow emerged to the sides and behind Sang Pianyi. Their mere presence was frightening.
Sang Pianyi scoffed. "The shark was weak enough, did you really have to bring more animals?"
The Lord of Shadows merely smiled. "I offer to thee, the lives and souls of every living being in the nearby area, including my own." The corner of his lips began to curl.
The being standing behind Sang Pianyi gave a tacit nod, before materializing a colossal claymore and slamming it down upon the Lord of Shadows, killing him instantly.
Next, their gaze turned to Sang Pianyi.
Before they could move in, a stray vine snagged his body and pulled him away at a ludicrous speed, getting him to where Sasha was in less than a second.
Upon arrival, Sang Pianyi immediately grabbed Sasha's right hand and began to run towards the exit of the forest. This was not a battle they could win with their current circumstances.
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William was sipping a nice cup of tea in a local abandoned house, his empty page-like eyes harbouring deep thoughts.
'Well this just got a whole lot worse for us...' He sighed calmly.
Rising from his cushy armchair, he looked around at the rest of his team, Li Jiaojie and Fei Kangzhen were knocked out on the double bed in the room, while Lian was busy finding snacks to eat.
Taking the opportunity while everyone was distracted, he and Xiao Wei, who was taking a sweet nap on his right shoulder, left the temporary sanctuary. He still barely had any Ingenuity, but he wanted to do...something at least, sitting around idle was one thing he didn't like doing very much.