Chapter Fifteen: Lesson, Defeat, Sage

Gazef casually blocked another strike before he started speaking. "First things first, your strength. You're not using all of it, for one simple reason. You've never fought against someone who is stronger than you."

Nariko could only nod, knowing it was true. She had never had a serious fight against someone stronger than her, only ever sparring with Gazef did she go all out.

"You focus on speed in a serious fight, when your greatest asset… is definitely your strength." Gazef pointed out, as he redirected Fumiko's great sword towards the ground with his own, which created a crater in the ground as dust and rocks flew from the point of impact. Because of this, the compounded strength behind each of Fumiko's hits were now reset.

Fumiko cleaved her great sword upwards towards the face of Gazef as she put all her strength into it. Her annoyance, which had stemmed from Gazef talking and the missed opportunity to kill her replacement, added to her strength as she did so.

But as she did so, Gazef continued to talk. "But of course, the easiest way to win a fight…" Gazef stopped talking as he lifted his hand up.

To Fumiko and Nariko, the world seemed to be in slow motion as he did so, while Gazef moved at a normal leisurely speed.

Then something outside of Fumiko's wildest imaginations happened. He grabbed the blade of the greatsword, stopping the movement completely.

Fumiko looked at him with wide eyes that were filled with fear, but being hidden behind the mask of a demon she wore on her face, the feeling of fear within her being solidified as he grabbed the sword. He stopped it with little to no effort from what Fumiko could tell, and he did even bleed when he grabbed the sharp edge.

"... is to use your overwhelming strength to beat your opponent." Gazef said as he finished his sentence from before. "But since you and this hero are around the same level of strength, I'll give you some advice that you can actually use."

Fumiko felt her fear rise to new levels as Gazef tightened his grip on his sword. She tried to jump back, still holding the sword, but Gazef didn't let go as she did so. Having no other choice, Fumiko abandoned the sword and jumped backwards swiftly, as the sword she was trying to avoid came down a second later.

'Just one more second and i wouldn't be in one piece anymore.' Fumiko thought to herself. She felt her heart thundering in her chest as she took deep breaths to calm down.

Nariko looked at that interaction with amazement. The Demons Hero, someone who before she had no hope of beating, was now the one most likely to be defeated.

"Come on, Hero, you're going to have a part to play in this victory as well." Gazef said to Nariko, not saying her name just in case. He wanted to teach Nariko that she could beat this Hero, he knew that if things got really tough then the only person who could match him in a fight would appear.

Nariko looked up at him, a bit shocked that he would still try to help her defeat the Demons Hero instead of just doing it himself, after all it seemed like she wasn't a match against this Hero. "Yes, sir!" She shouted out, the shout only being a bit muffled because of her kitsune mask.

She got up and was immediately beside Gazef's side.

"Good to see you haven't given up yet, most people would give up after a one sided beatdown like that." Gazef said in a boisterous tone. Patting Nariko on the shoulder as she stumbled forward a bit from the strength.

"Well, I'm Humanities Hero, I can't just give up that easily." Nariko said in a tone of conviction as she looked at Gazef.

A small smile appeared on Gazef's face as she said that. "I guess so."

Fumiko didn't wait for their 'touching' moment to be over. She charged at them, in her hand was a smaller sword than before. It had a similar design to the first one, but it was different in that it was super light, even lighter then its size would suggest.

Once she was in range she swung her sword toward Nariko, knowing that she wouldn't be able to defeat Gazef, as much as she hated to admit it.

Nariko saw it and blocked the sword with her katana, one of her hands on the handle and one hand on the back of the blade to make sure a repeat of their first clash didn't happen again.

"You're doing it wrong, hero!" Gazef shouted out, making sure to stay out of this clash, only going to interfere if Nariko was really in trouble. "Use your mana to make your body stronger," Nariko was going to retort with heer being pushed back but not pushed down, but Gazef with his lesson, "you don't just use it when you go for attacks, you do it every second of the fight, otherwise you've already lost."

Fumiko of course knew about that, it was one of the first things she had learned, she even started to figure it out after she learned how to manipulate mana, but then got proper guidance from Meld about how to use it later on.

Fumiko sneered as she put more mana into her muscles making them stronger, but not changing their appearance, as she kept pushing Nariko back. The fact that she hadn't figured it out and was using such an inefficient method of only using that for attacks proved that she was superior.

For every step Fumiko took forward, Narikto took a step back, making sure not to get into a position where she could be forced down onto a knee, knowing it wasn't a good position to be in and that she only got lucky in getting that kick in on the Demons Hero.

But Nariko listened to what meld had said and focused on inside herself, focusing on the comforting heat that the mana inside her offered. She pushed the mana inside of her around her body, making it flow like a river throughout her body.

This let her get even stronger than before, but she was still weaker than her enemy. Because of her lack of proper control over her mana, because she never had the proper time for it, she was wasting more mana then she need to for what strength she was getting, not only that a coat of mana appeared over her showing what she was enhancing as well a the colour of her mana, although that coat unless properly trained wouldn't give her any advantages.

With Fumiko getting sick of this stalemate she pushed more mana into her then necessary as she pushed Nariko back.

Nariko's face turned into shock as her arms went above her head from being pushed back, and with no way to defend herself she was at the others mercy.

Fumiko grinned as her mind screamed for blood and pay back for the humiliation earlier. With her sword now rapidly zooming in on the patchic Hero's neck, she knew was about to win.

That was until Nariko was pulled back, and Fumiko's sword was out of her hand. Gazef stood in front of Nariko with her behind him, he was staring at Fumiko as she looked at him with wide eyes from behind her mask.

How could she forget he was here?! Fumiko was about to jump back before she could, she was laying on the ground with a pain in her back as she let out a gas for air, if her ribs were cracked before they were now definitely broken. Or maybe that was her back?

Gazef looked down on her cold as he pulled his sword up, ready to stab it down into her. "Enough games."

Fumiko looked at the sword as it came down, was this her end?! No! It wouldn't be her end, she was going to survive!

Nariko looked shocked as Gazef spoke then, never seeing him look like that or the way he spoke, it was like he was a completely different person. But as she watched Gazef raise his sword, she knew what she had to do, even if it… wasn't the best thing to do for the world.

"Stop! Don't kill her!" Nariko screamed out, rushing towards Gazef, before harshly shoulder checking him, making the sword dig into the ground right next to Fumiko's head.

Gazef once again pulled his sword out of the ground to try again, as he held a hand out to the side, making Nariko fly out to the side, before she was held to the ground by an invisible source. "Don't stop me, hero! This is for the good of the world."

He knew that Nariko didn't want to kill this hero, they were the only people from a different world in this universe, and they were from the same world. But this was their world, and Gazef wasn't going to let Nariko try and change someone like this hero.

Just from the one sided beatdown he gave her, he could tell. She would never change, she would always try to shed as much blood as possible, would alway be prideful, always… be evil.

He couldn't let Nariko have hope for an endeavour that would never be fulfilled. So, he would end right here, right now.

But before he could kill her, he felt a terrible aura radiating from below him. He could feel its intent, its will, its conviction, its promise. Or whatever you wanted to call it, he could feel it. It screamed at him- No, it screamed at the world, that she was here! That she wouldn't go down! That she wouldn't die!

Gazef jumped back from it as he felt it focus on him. And a second later the place he was standing was lit up with a bright black flame, its heat making him sweat, something that not a lot of people could do.

Then all was silent, as calm but slow footsteps rang out in the raging battle field that had lost its sound, with the world turning different shades instead of colours.

The source of this being a young man in his twenties. With messy brown hair, and blue eyes. He was wearing a royal cloak that was blue with some other colours mixed in. and in his hand was a metal staff which had a red jewel at the top.

He had a confident smile on his face, as he looked at the fight that was about to happen. "Well, that's enough for today." He decided. Bringing his staff up, he tapped in on the ground, and then everything returned to normal.

The world regained its colour as sound came back into existence.

Gazef brought his sword up to defend himself, but he didn't see the Demons Hero in front of him anymore. He quickly looked around, but couldn't find her, instead finding someone new there now.

Nariko's struggle finally stopped as the invisible force stopped holding her down. She got up, expecting to see the other Hero on the ground, dead with Gazef standing over her. But instead she saw a newcomer, who she didn't recognise.

Gazef looked angrily over at the new person. "Why would you stop me, Sage?! I could have ended this!"

The Sage only shook his head, as he explained it to him. "No, you couldn't have. She doesn't know the true extent of her power, Zerad hasn't told her." Sage explained, before saying something that shocked Gazef. "He's afraid of her, of what she can do."

He then took a glance over at Nariko, who was coming towards them, before looking back at Gazef. "If you fought her now, she would have grown stronger at a rate that neither the Hero or you, would be able to handle."

"Then… how do we stop her?" Nariko asked, her eyes hardening behind the mask. "Is it possible to change her? Make her good?"

The Sage just hummed before answering. "The question is, how do YOU stop her, I'm not getting involved." He said honestly, chuckling nervously at Gazef's gaze. "But, how do you change her?" He asked rhetorically. "I don't know, it's for you to find out. Shell probably never properly change, but I think it is possible to get her to join the right side, once she sees the truth."

Gazef ignored his words, along with the way Nariko glared at him. She could tell he had respect for the man in front of them, meaning that he was a trustworthy source. And a trustworthy source he was.

He had predicted multiple attacks that could have ended thousands of human lives, and he had ended almost any fight he stepped into in a minute. Although he was eccentric and only went to places he 'needed' to be, although he would never explain why he was 'needed' in these places.

"Let's get this over with." Gazef said through gritted teeth.