Fight As Per Normal

To my horror, he smiled and moved his arms in a few small but quick strokes. Then, he sliced and diced up the tree, and Bryan turned it to paper. And have I mentioned that he closed his eyes while doing so? That was so cool... And amazing. He turned around to look at me with a smirk.

"You're lucky, but not for long."

The small alarm in my head went off. It was deafening to hear it and enough to pull me back to real-time. Keep your head in the game, don't lose focus. Just because your enemy is stronger than you doesn't mean you can't win the fight.

"Not all fights have to be fought purely by strength or speed."

Just find the opening spot for victory. Do it at the right time—no need to be flamboyant about it. Assassins aren't flashy. They are meant to blend in with the shadows. Keep your cool, don't freak out, and do not be impressed by your opponent's moves. Learn from them and act quickly.

That's right... Why was I being pushed back? I could tell that Bryan's skill as a combatant was on par with me. The same tactics he used I would've used as well. So why am I so afraid of him? I've cut down humans the same way he diced up that tree. I don't have to be afraid.

I took a deep breath once more as Bryan headed towards me at ridiculous speeds. He halted abruptly and threw a scythe towards me. I barely dodged the quick attack as I could hear the sound of the blade cutting through the air. I was mortified as Bryan was now in front of me.

He was ready to slice me up as he did to that poor oak tree. He then proceeded to make a horizontal slash at my neck. The Slayer meant it when he wasn't going to play nice anymore. I evaded the first slash by bending my upper body backward.

He then tried to slash my lower body vertically, but I released my blade to place my hands onto the dirt. Once I've got my hold on the floor, I kicked my legs upwards to prevent him from hurting me. It worked to deflect him away, but the intention was to wound him as well.

Unfortunately, he missed my kick, and I was forced to backflip away from him once more. He tugged onto the chain, and one of the scythes came barrelling at me. I looked at the oncoming Slayer, realizing he was using only one scythe to fight me and not both.

Was he going to make the same attack again? That was rather silly of him. Who do you think I am, boy? Do you think you can trick me? Hmph, I'm not your average little girl to fool around with! I ran around to the side, completely missing the flying scythe to grab my blade again.

I plunged my blade into the ground and hoisted myself upwards. I used my sword like a long pole, like how the Flower Mage used her spear to get to a higher level. Bryan prepared for an overhead strike by holding a scythe above his head. And the other scythe to knock away my blade.

He prioritized the scythe that was about to knock my blade away, so I changed tactics and pulled out my sword from the ground. Then, using both hands, I delivered a slash towards Bryan's head. To an average person's eyes, the scythes' movement happened simultaneously.

To me, it happened one after another, with a gap that was enough for me to launch an attack. Then, by dodging the scythe underneath, I put one blade out of commission for a second, ensuring he doesn't have a backup attack. And because he didn't have enough time to focus, I went for the kill.

The protective stance he held was incredibly weak, which led me to conclude that he was pretty shaky in defenses. So, after clashing with him, I forced my body to turn a full circle to strengthen the slash's weight. It worked, and I broke his defense and the ground he stood on.

He was forced to fall onto the broken land and witnessed as I tried to stab his head. But he still had the agility to roll away from that last attack and back to safety. With the tip of my blade back into the ground, I had a hard time trying to catch Bryan.

Finally, I pulled the blade out and threw the sword upwards and into the sky. Bryan's eyes followed the blade, so he was taken off guard when I met him with a physical attack. I launched myself towards Bryan and fought him off using my fists.